Galaxy Tab - Good Price?

[amujee]

Hi.

Is $400 a good price for a brand new, unopened, contract-free AT&T Galaxy Tab? I'm finding a lot of variation in prices online.
I have a chance to buy it locally. It'll replace my Nook Color.

Appreciate any feedback. Thanks.

[boswd]

if you were to ask this question 3 months ago , I would have said it was a steal.
Now that the tablet market is heating up, I would wait. a simple root to your current Nook color would bring almost all the exact same functionality as what the Galaxy Tab has and you won't have to spend a dime well minus the sd card.

but otherwise I would wait, by the end of spring i think we'll be in full tablet war and these prices are going to drop, It appears Asus is about to make the first strike in the price war.

So if you can I would hold off, you would more than likely be able to find the same Galaxy Tab under $350 or $300

[SCION]

Yeah, I agree with boswd. At the price you referenced, I thought it was for the 10 inch one.

All those people locked into 2 year contracts for the same price not too long ago. More and more it's just not worth being the first to jump on the bandwagon of these things. Waiting six months can make a big difference. The emotional high is hard to overlook though.

[amujee]

Awww man. I'm starting to get convinced not to buy it. I thought it was a good price considering the Wifi-only Tab is set at $350 price range. And I do like the form factor of the 7" tablets. All the upcoming tablets seem to be focused on the 10" market.

My Nook Color is already rooted and is running CM7 RC4. It's a pretty nice tablet as-is, but the Tab is lighter, has cameras, has GPS, has fully functional bluetooth (I think), has better video playback support, and I have the option to make calls (after unlocked). I think all those things are worth the extra $150 over the NC, no?

Maybe I should buy a used one for less money?

[SCION]

Originally Posted by amujee

Awww man. I'm starting to get convinced not to buy it. I thought it was a good price considering the Wifi-only Tab is set at $350 price range. And I do like the form factor of the 7" tablets. All the upcoming tablets seem to be focused on the 10" market.

My Nook Color is already rooted and is running CM7 RC4. It's a pretty nice tablet as-is, but the Tab is lighter, has cameras, has GPS, has fully functional bluetooth (I think), has better video playback support, and I have the option to make calls (after unlocked). I think all those things are worth the extra $150 over the NC, no?

Being able to make calls puts it in a different category now! So it'll be fully functional as a phone? Plop in a SIM card?

[=X=]

400 is a pretty good deal, but there are new hardware coming out that you might want to look at. If the $400 price point is your main reason for considering the samsung I don't think it will get much cheaper. Some newer devices might drop in price but they are going to have to give in some areas like 3G, gorilla glass, etc..

However getting to your original question. If we compare the nook vs the Tab here are some of the things to consider as far as assessing value.

For only $150 you get the following additional features on the Tab.


- Rear camera/Front camera (Can take pictures, Evernote, scanner, Phone calls, etc..)
- Faster processor 1GHZ vs 600MHZ
- BlueTooth
- 3G(You have to pay for it, but it's a nice to have, you'll never know when you'll need it)
- Full Android (Froyo 2.2 + All the software Samsung bundled with it).
- GORILLA GLASS!
- Microphone (to record/make calls).
- Swype
- DRM Codex for movies.
- VOIP calling
- Video Conferencing.
- HDMI ports

In the end Samsung out of the box is much more of a producing device you can do a lot more with the tab than the nook.


I don't know if you have stock nook, rooted nook, or a ROM (Nookie, CM7, HonyComb) modified nook.

A modified nook can increase the value of the nook by adding a full fledged Android OS, BlueTooth*, and increase the processor speed**. But then you can do the same with the Tab.

Personally I love my nook, and have modified it to run CM7(Android 2.3). But if I had a choice to pickup a Tab for $400 vs a nook for $250 I'd go with the Tab.

*The nook always had BT hardware, they just chose not to enable it.
** By Overclocking the kernel, this does decrease the live of your device.

[amujee]

Originally Posted by SCION

Being able to make calls puts it in a different category now! So it'll be fully functional as a phone? Plop in a SIM card?

Well, not out of the box. But after a hack to enable phone calling and getting a sim unlock code, I should be able to pop in any sim card to make calls. At least that's what I read somewhere.

[=X=]

Originally Posted by amujee

Awww man. I'm starting to get convinced not to buy it. I thought it was a good price considering the Wifi-only Tab is set at $350 price range. And I do like the form factor of the 7" tablets. All the upcoming tablets seem to be focused on the 10" market.

My Nook Color is already rooted and is running CM7 RC4. It's a pretty nice tablet as-is, but the Tab is lighter, has cameras, has GPS, has fully functional bluetooth (I think), has better video playback support, and I have the option to make calls (after unlocked). I think all those things are worth the extra $150 over the NC, no?

Maybe I should buy a used one for less money?

Yes I think it's worth it, but come this summer from now some real nice devices are going to come out. For $100 more possible $200 they are going to have more RAM, more CPU Tegra2, and HC just to name a few. That will quickly out-date the Tab.


=X=

[boswd]

If you really want a Galaxy Tab I would say just sit tight just a little longer. I would say by the end of Spring with all the new Android Tablets all running Honeycomb, from the Xoom to HTC to Samsungs newer Galaxy S and everything in between such as rival's Blackberry's Playbook,

You'd be able to get that same Galaxy Tab for an even better price.

[amujee]

Okay, I've informed the seller I won't be buying.
I guess I can live with the my NC for a little bit longer.
I don't understand what the big deal is with honeycomb, but I'm looking forward to higher resolution screens.

Thank you for your help.

[boswd]

and as of today Samsung has announced the WiFi only Tab will be on sale mid April for $350, this is the 32G version.

the big deal about honeycomb is it is an operating system specifically designed for tablets. It's interaction with the User Interface is really remarkable. I said in the past that comparing the Honeycomb UI to the iPads UI is like comparing the Superman Thrill Ride Roller Coaster at Six Flags to the Dumbo ride at Disney World.
HoneyComb is really amazing.


But if the Galaxy Tab is all you need, the prices are starting to drop.

[SCION]

That's a good price for now. Should be a "blow out" at the end of the year.

Can't believe I paid $400 for a Sony Reader last year. Shameful.

[wodin]

I paid $399 for my SGT a few weeks ago at COSTCO. It is a 3G model on the Verizon network, but does not have a contract, month to month only. I believe Sprint also dropped the off contract price to ~$400 at the same time.

At the time it was a very good deal, and I don't regret buying it. I would have to think harder about it today.

[amujee]

Well this is kind of embarrassing.
I ended up buying the Tab after all.

BUT, I am very very happy with my purchase.
The stock firmware is pretty well polished IMO. The stock video player codec support is very good. I played some 720p mkv files and they played very smoothly. And having the the four standard android buttons is a big plus for me. No more button savior or soft keys to deal with.
I no longer feel like I have an "incomplete" tablet (although my initial purchase of the NC was for the purpose of a reader).
Also, I flashed mine with the international tab firmware so I can also make phone calls.

For me, it was definitely worth the premium over the NC.

[=X=]

Originally Posted by amujee

Well this is kind of embarrassing.
I ended up buying the Tab after all.

BUT, I am very very happy with my purchase.
The stock firmware is pretty well polished IMO. The stock video player codec support is very good. I played some 720p mkv files and they played very smoothly. And having the the four standard android buttons is a big plus for me. No more button savior or soft keys to deal with.
I no longer feel like I have an "incomplete" tablet (although my initial purchase of the NC was for the purpose of a reader).
Also, I flashed mine with the international tab firmware so I can also make phone calls.

For me, it was definitely worth the premium over the NC.

Nothing to be embarrassed about. We all know that at some point in time the hardware we buy today will go for nothing in 6mo. I still think you got a good deal. The WI-FI is $350 and you got the 3G for $400. Personally I think the 3G is worth the extra $50.


I do have a request if you don't mind. I have the CM7, overclocked kernel 1.1GHZ, with the Tablet hacks(it makes it so you don't have to use softkeys since the softkeys are in the status bar.)

I'm real pleased with the device and it does feel like a tablet now.

Here is the request, since you ran a very similar setup as I, I'd like to know how well the NookCOLOR measures up to the Tab. I'd like to hear a detail comparison, not HW comparison, but a comparison on how the devices behave from daily use.

=X=